Please use this thread to report from
Legends Drum Corps Open -- Three Rivers, MI
7:08 p.m. LakeShoremen (SoundSport)
7:18 p.m. Les Stentors
7:34 p.m. Raiders
7:50 p.m. intermission
8:10 p.m. Music City
8:26 p.m. 7th Regiment
8:42 p.m. Legends
(times are Eastern)
or
Show of Shows -- Waukesha, WI
7:23 p.m. Kilties (all age)
7:39 p.m. Shadow
7:55 p.m. Impulse
8:11 p.m. intermission
8:41 p.m. Colt Cadets
8:57 p.m. Spartans
9:13 p.m. Blue Devils
(times are Central)
There should be no rain at either show.
Last night in Troy, Legends beat Spartans by 1.5 pts., so it will be very useful to see how close Spartans can get to BDB tonight.
Not to mention to see how Music City does against O.C. corps after their strong showing Friday in Nashville.

Great night of drum corps! No rain, only a light wind, packed full house (arrive early, lots of folks with reserved tickets had trouble getting to their seats as everyone "spread" on the bleachers and some spots seemed to dissappear). This is the grass stadium where the MN Vikings have training camp, no track-grass right up to the bleachers-the crowd is so close some drum majors conduct from the stands. My hometown and most fav stadium to play in!
Some totally biased thoughts from last night: (i have not seen much of anything live/video/etc for this season, have not even had time to read much)
Govenaires: classic show for them, entertaining music choices and they performed the heck out of it. Contra (tuba?...I might be old...) solo with the gold flags is a great design choice. I suspect the closer has not been on the field long, but it is going to rock by August.
MN Brass: this show is already looking polished-great guard coustuming and flags, loved the music. Great solo work in the hornline, everything looks and sounds like another DCA-sweep for MN this year :)
RACINE SCOUTS: props to the 4 kids in the brass line (yep, 4). Of course there are balance issues with the full drumline and out, but they hung in and did a nice job in the ballad. Nice vocal solo, and the guard work that was ready for the show fit well. Horns were staged near the pit for most of the show.
COLT CADETS: my kiddos-great job!!! Full show marching on the field, some guard works needs to be added in places yet. Big sound, then when the shakos come off you remember that many are only 12 years old...yikes! Members are very animated and selling the show, soloists did a great job, so proud of you guys!
Pioneer: my vote for "most improved", but I have been out of the loop the past 2 years with the baby...anyway, wow! Big corps in all sections, lots of volume, entertaining show. The costumes and flags fit the theme great, it was easy to follow the story. They are not moving as fast or playing as many notes as the big guys, so I know they are not likely to hit top-15, but they should be very proud of this show. VIP to the cymbal line-lots of effects, good marching and visuals
COLTS-Go Red Team! Love the show, set #3 grabbed the crowd great and the wall of sound on the first big hits got them roaring. Trumpet solos rocked, vocal solo was great, and lots of little details on the front sideline with pit and voice actors that added a lot (popcorn...lol...) I can't wait to see how the ending changes in the next few weeks. Narration was a bit hard to hear due to the stands so close to the pit, with speakers aimed right at the wall, but this stadium is unique, so it should not be an issue most other places. Love ya lots guys-keep up the great work!
MADISON SCOUTS-love the 1990s uniforms, the whole show has the 90s feel with jazz and screaming sopranos (trumpets....). Big wall of sound was the loudest of the night. Fun, happy show.
BLUECOATS-after reading a bit on this show before seeing it, I knew some things I wanted to watch for. I think they maybe the used the silver atom things more then in the first couple of shows, but I don't have any prior viewings to go on. Guard was in and on them quiet a bit, they moved around, etc. The speaker effects are very cool, I loved the muted trumpets being bounced around the field. We were sitting right on the 50, so the best possible listening point. I hope folks further out near the end zones will be able to get the same show we got. But, as cool as that was, I was the most impressed with the crazy body work the corps is doing. Is it required to take years of ballet to be in the 'coats horn line? Slow motion running...crazy cool....
I have never had a good handle on scores, so I won't go into that. Placements were as they performed, and I agree with those 100%....but I hope the COLTS overtake Madison with some crazy cleaning and a few tricks up their sleeves....
I will try to add some photos soon.

A Knight of Music in Motion
Bakken Field
Harding High School
1540 East 6th St.
St. Paul, MN 55106
Wed. July 30 -- 6:00 p.m. (CDT)
Corps in order of appearance:
Governaires (all age)
Blue Saints
Racine Scouts
Colt Cadets
Gold
Music City
Spartans
Blue Devils B
Minnesota Brass (all age)
The show website also says that all-age corps Chops, Inc. is performing, presumably in exhibition. It appears that Chops is the event host.
The show should be a half-hour underway; NWS radar indicates good weather.

Because most of these tiny shows get overlooked, and because I enjoyed it quite a lot, here is my review of Sunday's show! (Disclaimer: this review will likely be deficient in color guard and drumline commentary. I'd rather spare you "Wow, drumline's big" and "flags were nice but it was windy" because I admittedly don't have much expertise in these areas.)
Legends: This was my first ever experience with Legends. I found the hornline to have a warm and nice sound, generally, however, the visual element definitely hurt the musical delivery. Granted it's early July, so there's still plenty of time to get the feet out of the sound. I really appreciated that the (unamplified) pit had timpani. I enjoyed the concept of the show, though at times integration of horns and drums muddied things a bit.
Genesis: First viewing of this corps as well. Visually, a noticeable step up from Legends; this group marches well. The hornline sounds good, now if they would only turn down the awful synthesized bass in the pit. With 12 tubas, there's no need for electronic rumblings in the background; the one brass hit without synth was great. Shoutout to the mellophone section, who stuck out in a solid and good way. When the execution is up to the level of show design, it will be quite excellent.
Colt Cadets: Again, first time I've seen CC. The level of demand doesn't seem as high as the previous 2 groups but it seems appropriate for the younger/smaller Colt Cadets corps. I thought the adaptation and performance of Eric Whitacre's "Equus" for the DCI field was well done, as it's an especially rhythmically challenging piece. The hornline, though small, held its own.
Pioneer: I've only ever seen Pioneer once or twice, but always found them enjoyable. Musically, the material was traditional in a way (Pioneer's traditional style/traditional hymn tunes and Irish tunes) but also non-traditional in some of the settings of the music. I liked the brass book, I think the arrangements work. I do wonder if there is more to be done with the props in the show, the move around but don't seem to add much to the overall effect. Visual clarity (some especially notable lines and diagonals) looks like, well, July. The corps performs the show enthusiastically, for sure. Though the hornline is small for world class, they play reasonably well and I'd still rather hear it without synth bass beneath.
Jersey Surf: I'm unsure about the midi sounds coming from the pit; I don't mind the added effect of woodwind and organ sounds too much, but I think they'd fit in much more musically if the samples had some decay instead of just releasing keyboard-style. I loved the effect of the plumes gradually appearing on the members through the opener. Surf's hornline is growing up and they have an understatedly wonderful show to work with. The tuba soloist in the Copland and mello soloist in the ballad both played very well. Also loved the return to the navy blue uniforms, it's fitting for this program. I can't wait to see this show in August, as Surf has more time on tour this summer than they've ever had.
Colts: I'd been hesitantly looking forward to this show for quite some time since I love Pink Floyd. The corps really delivers. Hearing a hornline of this size and quality play parts of Dark Side of the Moon was really incredible. I don't have much commentary on the narration. I think it was delivered well and I understand that is evolving, though I don't know if parts of it would have been as effective if I had not know it as lyrics from Dark Side of the Moon. Radiohead's Everything in Its Right Place translates to the drum corps idiom incredibly effectively, I wanted to hear more of it. I'd seen a lot of complaints about the vocals in The Great Gig in the Sky, but I didn't find it to be disagreeable mostly on account of knowing the source material. Top split trumpets, and the trumpet section in general, were impressive (I'd noticed that last time I saw Colts live back in '12, too). I'm looking forward to see what happens to this show throughout the season.

I don't see a thread for this show, which should be about half over now.
Schedule as per From the Pressbox (CDT):
7:15 Legends
7:32 Colt Cadets
7:49 Genesis
8:26 Colts
8:43 Troopers
9:00 Phantom Regiment
9:17 Cavaliers
It looks like a little rain is about to roll through, although I don't think it will last.
If you're there, or after you're there, chime in here!

There are actually two shows in Illinois tonight. About 75 minutes west of Lisle, six corps compete in Dixon, where it looks likely the Colts will take first place. I don't see another thread for this show, so...
Dixon Petunia Festival
A.C. Bowers Field, Dixon High School
Lincoln Statue Drive
Dixon, IL 61021
Here's the lineup, with times again per From the Pressbox:
6:15 p.m. - Legends
6:32 p.m. - Genesis
6:49 p.m. - Colt Cadets
7:23 p.m. - Pioneer
7:40 p.m. - Jersey Surf
7:57 p.m. - Colts
Remember once more that those are Central time.

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